Amazon has reportedly bought self-driving-car startup Zoox for more than $1 billion

The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Amazon and Zoox were holding talks.
Zoox laid off 120 staff in April because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Amazon has reportedly bought self-driving taxi firm Zoox for more than $1 billion.

A source familiar with the matter told The Information that the acquisition was for more than $1 billion, and two sources told the Financial Times the deal closed for $1.2 billion. Both publications said the deal is expected to be announced on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported in late May that the e-commerce giant was in talks to buy Zoox, a California-based self-driving-car startup founded in 2014. In 2018, Bloomberg Business reported that Zoox was closing on a $500 million fundraise that would have valued the startup at $3.2 billion. Before the raise, Zoox was valued at $2.7 billion, the company told TechCrunch .

Like many self-driving-car companies, Zoox has been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic . The virus forced the company to shut down a planned pilot for its ride-sharing service, and in April the company laid off 120 people .

Sources told the FT that Zoox's management team will report to Jeff Wilke, the head of Amazon's worldwide consumer division, and that Zoox will operate with a similar level of independence as Amazon's streaming platform Twitch.

Morgan Stanley analysts said in May that driverless delivery would save Amazon more than $20 billion each year.

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